First Look at Palo Cortado, Now Serving Tapas and Wine Cocktails in Carroll Gardens

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There’s a new tapas joint in Carroll Gardens to keep us occupied while we wait for Seamus Mullen to open what may or may not be a new Spanish restaurant (“Stay tuned!” was all he told Restaurant Girl in an interview yesterday. [Update: he tells Feast “you’ll definitely see me cooking Spanish food again”]) and for his former Boqueria chef Franco Barrio’s place to open (October 28 is the latest). Alessandro Peluso of Bocca and Cacio e Pepe teamed up with Alessandro Piliego (former GM at the House) to open Palo Cortado last Tuesday. There you’ll find a dozen sherries, four draft beers, Spanish wines, and wine cocktails (sorry, no hard liquor). Cooking behind a 38-seat tapas counter, chef Jimmy Stafford is coming off of six years working for Hyatt (he recently helped open Wall & Water); in addition to the assortment of traditional tapas you can see below, he plans to offer daily specials “with a little bit of flair,” such as today’s house-cured salmon carpaccio with watercress apples and horseradish.

As you can see above, the room has a rustic look — the bar is topped with tiles from a 180-year-old church in Uruguay, the chandeliers are cast-iron, and there are a few prints from that newly buzzy artist, Botero. The seating is all bar height, with two communal tables up front and five or six deuces in the back. Grab a stool from 5 p.m. till midnight on weekends and till 1 a.m. on weekends.